1,2-Addition reaction of monosubstituted disilenes: An Ab initio study

Mechanisms of 1,2-addition reactions of the monosubstituted disilenes H₂Si=SiHMe, H₂Si=SiHF, H₂Si=SiH(C=CH), and H₂Si=SiH(NH₂) were investigated in detail by the ab initio MO method. All reactions start from the electrophilic and nucleophilic initial complexes CE and CN. Four initial complexes and, therefore, four reaction channels were found for the reactions of methyldisilene with water and of ethynyldisilene with water. Only two complexes were found, however, in the reactions of fluorodisilene and aminodisilene with water/hydrogen fluoride. The reaction of the polar substrate aminodisilene shows reaction profiles similar to that of the polar substrate silene. In addition, product switching of the stereochemistry, depending on the acidity of the reagent, was found for the reaction of aminodisilene.